1. Area of the Art
The present invention relates to cooking appliances such as barbecues, and more particularly to barbecues having one or more shelves associated therewith.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to provide a cooking appliance such as a barbecue having one or more shelves associated therewith. The shelves may be movably attached to the barbecue so that they can be moved into a position of use such as outside of the barbecue for storage of food and implements thereon, and also movable into a position for storage of the shelves such as at the inside of the barbecue. Published U.S. Application No. 2003/0192526 of DeMars shows various embodiments of a barbecue in which opposite shelves are folded over for storage inside the barbecue and are unfolded to the outside of the barbecue for use. Published U.S. Application No. 2003/0111070 of DeMars and U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,987 of DeMars have similar disclosures. Published U.S. Application No. 2003/0111070 of DeMars also shows a barbecue with hinging shelves.
Still further examples of barbecues with hinging shelves are provided by published U.S. Application No. 2003/0079737 of Wu and U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,515 of Wu.
Published U.S. Application No. 2002/0050274 of Hamilton et al. describes a portable stove having opposite hinging shelves that cover the top of the stove when pivoted to an inner position. U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,607 of Doolittle describes opposite shelves which remain outside of a barbecue and which are hinged and can be raised and lowered. The hinges have latching mechanisms to latch the shelves in a raised position. U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,413 of Meszaros also describes a barbecue having shelves which are raised and lowered. U.S. Pat. No. 2,541,528 of McAvoy describes an arrangement of opposite hinging shelves similar to that in published U.S. application Ser. No. 0050274 of Hamilton.
The various examples of the prior art discussed above describe barbecues having shelves which are hinged or otherwise pivotable about horizontal axes so that they fold to the inside of the barbecue for storage and to the outside of the barbecue for use. However, it may be desirable to provide other configurations and arrangements in which shelves are movable between a position on the inside of the barbecue for storage and a position on the outside of the barbecue for use.